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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29555205">It’s Not Rabies, It’s . . .</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inkribbon796/pseuds/Inkribbon796'>Inkribbon796</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Masks and Maladies [129]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Who Killed Markiplier? (Web Series)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Accidental Baby Acquisition, Accidental Stabbing, Damien just wants to have his babies, Dark has a lot of feels and no idea what to do with them, Discussions of demonic cannibalism, Domestic Fluff, Footnotes, I swear, M/M, Parental Feels, domestic angst, its just magic, it’s not mpreg, magical kids, superhero au</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 20:55:46</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,647</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29555205</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inkribbon796/pseuds/Inkribbon796</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>There was an old phrase that the Jims believed in wholeheartedly: “If I cannot find trouble, I will create it.”<br/>    Or: King gets a crash course in parenting in the weirdest way possible.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>darkstache</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Masks and Maladies [129]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1538131</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>22</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. I’m Sorry, You’re Dying</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This was a suggestion-request from the anon NightFall on AO3. Which resulted in this story and since this one was getting a bit long it inspired a bit for the Visitation Day on Sunday which will be a lot less angsty.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  
  <span>It was another slow day in the city, typical city crime mixed with the fact that Anti was busy stalking Henrik and Remus had a bout of food poisoning. So not a lot of bot supervillain crime was being done.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>That mixed with over two feet of snow kept a good number of people indoors. King especially didn’t want to deal with Dark mother henning him, was sitting in the main common room of the heroes’ base next to Yancy. He was communicating with a couple of people on his phone.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>But because there wasn’t anything big happening in town, the Jims were bored. And bored Jims led to only one thing: </span>
  <em>
    <span>trouble.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  
  <span>There was an old phrase that the Jims believed in wholeheartedly: </span>
  <em>
    <span>“If I cannot find trouble, I will create it.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  
  <span>It was a surprise when RJ and CJ came bursting into the room with Marvin hot on their heels. None of the other heroes had even seen them come into the base, but that was nothing new.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Hey dumbasses, let’s not play with cursed shit,” Marvin ordered.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Look out Jim, I’ve got a stabby,” RJ held up the spike in his hands, the thing looked like it was made of stone with some runes carved into the side of it.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>And what would happen next would become the single most preventable accident that had happened in the base for the past seven years.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>King and Yancy were used to sudden bursts of noise. Between Wil and their siblings, King especially was good at tuning out background </span>
  <em>
    <span>“white noise”</span>
  </em>
  <span> as King called.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>So King hadn’t even realized the Jims had run in, hadn’t seen RJ get closer until he accidentally stepped on his cape. King startled, pulling on the cape as he rushed to stand and scurry away from the Jims.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>But it wasn’t fast enough, RJ tripped and slammed into King. In actuality RJ just tapped him with the thing but as if it was triggered to go off, the center of the spike detached and violently stabbed into King’s chest and punctured all the way until there was about an inch sticking out the other side.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>RJ and King looked at the spike in horror and then at each other before King slumped to the ground like a marionette with its strings up.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Instantly the other heroes rushed to King’s aid. Marvin doing his best to stabilize him, fearful of taking the spike out without killing him. He wasn’t moving, the young man was barely breathing.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>It was so bad Iplier thought he was already dead when he checked for a pulse.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Iplier stared at King in shock. “His heart’s still beating.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Vat?” Henrik asked in surprise. He was in the room already preparing for the postmortem surgery to remove the spike.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“He’s not dead so we need to work fast,” Iplier realized, calling in for anesthesia and all kinds of help.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>They worked quickly to stabilize King’s condition and eventually pull the spike out. Marvin and the Host, or just the Host because he quickly pushed Marvin out of the room, helping to make sure there wasn’t a magical infection of some kind.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>When King woke up, his chest was killing him. “Ughhhh.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Scratch that. It felt like he was hit by a truck, died, was drop kicked out of Heaven, and sent back to Earth. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Everything</span>
  </em>
  <span> hurt.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Congrats,” Iplier started. “You are no longer dying.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Fucking thanks, I guess,” King groaned.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I take it you’d like a higher dose of morphine,” Iplier asked.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Pllllleeeeease!” King groaned.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>That got a slight chuckle out of Iplier.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>(GAP)</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The next week was absolute hell. The first two days after he got out of the hospital he was fine. He tried to take it easy around the park. He didn’t want to overexert himself and damage his heart again. But after that second day he had a constant shrilling migraine. It hurt to be outside, hearing people talk felt like his brain was being stabbed. He felt too exhausted to move, he couldn’t even think about eating without wanting to throw up.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Virgil was the one who found him on that absolutely dreadful third day, shaking on his floor.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Iplier was called back in and King went right back to the hospital. His heart was fine and thanks to the Host he hadn’t even gotten scars.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>After checking his symptoms, Iplier got worried and furious. He proclaimed it to be rabies, something he’d warned King about since day one.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>King didn’t remember being bitten, but knew it could have happened literally at any moment he’d been outside.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>For a week, since he’d been stabbed, he lay on a hospital bed, 100% certain that he was going to die in an agonizingly slow fashion.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Then one night, while Yancy had fallen asleep watching over him, King went to sleep. He began having a weird dream where he was walking through a field and came across a dismantled house. The only thing left standing apart from the frame was a single interior wall and a mirror.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The young man looked at the mirror, shrinking back from the mangled, hideous image he saw . . .</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>And then he was awake. His headache, gone.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>It was euphoric.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>All the pain he’d felt in his body had simply vanished. He wondered if he’d died, looking over to see Yancy still slumped uncomfortably in a hospital chair.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>King was about to call out to him, to ask if he had died, when something in his bed bit him.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>He screamed in pain, almost throwing himself out of the bed. Yancy startled awake.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>There was something in King’s bed, still under the sheets. It was about the size of a wiffle ball and it was making little growling noises.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The young man threw off the covers and he saw that there was a drawing pressed flat to the bed, and it was moving, as if King had trapped something under a cup and then lifted it to get a better look, allowing it to escape.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Darting quickly the figure moved along any connected surface, hitting the wall and moving around. As if the figure was frantically searching for something.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What is that?” Yancy demanded.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I don’t know,” King admitted.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The Host chuckled, suddenly appearing in the room, he was careful not to use the door, “Yancy and the King of the Squirrels should greet the newest member of their family.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“How’s that thing ours family?”</span>
  <span>[1]</span>
  <span> Yancy demanded.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The Host reached up and the figure particulate jumped him and the chittering, echoing scream died down as it just started devouring the Host’s aura. Which would have been a problem if they weren’t doing the equivalent of using a thimble to drink out of an ocean.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The Host had a smile on his face. “They have a diet that consists primarily of aura but in a couple months they should be on solid food. And they are King’s child.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“My what?” King screamed. “I can’t have kids, not on my own, and I can’t have them in a day.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“The King of the Squirrels was hit by a soul splitter. Normally a soul splitter would kill a human, or splinter them, but the King of the Squirrels is lucky that he was not human. So the soul splitter merely snapped off a portion of the King of Squirrels’s soul to create his child.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“So they’re a part of me,” King asked, hesitantly reaching out his hand and the figure snapped onto King’s hand. He felt a tingling as the figure began trying to consume his aura before standing calmly on King’s shoulder. “You got your own name little buddy?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Lunky,” the Host introduced.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Lunky?” King smiled, the figure turning to look at him. It almost sounded like they were purring. “That right or is Uncle Host playing a joke on me?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Lunky went back to exploring the room. Now that there was no danger, reality clouded around King’s mind.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What am I going to do?” King panicked a little bit. “I can’t take care of a kid! I can barely take care of myself.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Youse</span>
  <span>[2]</span>
  <span> got this,” Yancy reassured. “Youse are the most responsible ‘a all’a us.”</span>
  <span>[3]</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>King did feel a little better but at that moment Dr. Iplier walked in and saw all of them standing up.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What the hell is going on in here?” Iplier demanded, leaving the door open. It was an action that immediately caught Lunky’s attention as they realized there was a world beyond the four walls they were in.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Surprise, I’m not dying anymore?” King tried.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Ahh,</span>
  </em>
  <span> Iplier has made a mistake,” the Host grinned as Lunky’s figure stretched vertically and grabbed onto the door.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Oh no!” King realized, as Lunky was already speeding along the walls, looking for aura to eat. They were following an old trail that Anti had left a couple hours ago, following it to Henrik’s office before doubling back and slipping through the sliding front door that activated as Lunky neared them. And with that he had escaped the hospital before Yancy could make it down the hall to look for them, cursing as he went.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Airing Out Grievances</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>With yet another demon on the loose in Egoton, King gets a lucky break when Dark finds them first.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  
  <span>Lunky was following a specific trail now, the densest aura trail in all of Egoton: the Entity’s.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Fortunately for the entire city Dark was having an early morning. He’d been woken up early by the Host. The seer had warned him that he should be on the lookout for something coming to attack him. So he was braced in his warehouse.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Green noticed something first. His scans picked up something but he couldn’t see it. So Dark came to his location and saw that there was a new aura trail in the center of his territory. It was a new demon.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>At first he was furious, the audacity of this vile creature! When Dark found them he would show them no—</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>Why was Kay’s aura here?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Anger turned to trepidation. At first he thought — was afraid— that Kay had been violently attacked because his aura was all over the place, meshed in a weird way with a new demon aura. He almost attacked it outright before realizing it was an infantile demon, and Kay aura wasn’t on it because it had attacked the young man. Kay’s aura was a part of this demon. Just like Wil’s aura existed inside all of his children’s aura.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>In fact there was still a minute trace of Wil’s aura in the mix.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>This was Kay’s child!</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Dark felt a myriad of emotions. Confusion about how this had happened. </span>
  <em>
    <span>When</span>
  </em>
  <span> it had happened? Fear for the fact that this spawnling was wandering around a town crawling with demon hunters. And—</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The Entity’s racing thoughts were cut off when the spawnling bit down on his aura.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Hey!” Dark shouted, pinning the spawnling down.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Or at least he tried to. The spawnling had seen Dark teleport in and lunged out to bite his aura. But because Lunky wasn’t three-dimensional, Dark’s hands contacted with nothing. He had to use his aura to do it.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>And no sooner did Dark’s aura come into contact with Lunky, did something in Dark recoil. Not because Lunky could do any real damage to him or was repugnant in some way.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>But Dark aura naturally stuck to things. Kay would know Dark had been in contact with his child. And Dark couldn’t get his aura on the spawnling . . . he knew how furious that would make Kay.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The young man wanted nothing to do with him, hadn’t for years. Surely this would just be another part of Kay’s life Dark was not allowed to touch.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The Entity’s blue soul was already screaming in frustration and fury. Dark had to get the spawnling back to Kay before his blue soul threw another fit. Those were never fun to manage.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>So with a quick spell Dark trapped Lunky into a small area without having to use his aura. He was trying to think of something. He couldn’t just leave the spawnling to their own devices, they were too new, too juvenile to survive in this city on their own.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Fortunately for Dark Illinois came running out and after a sharp order from Dark, Illinois grabbed a piece of printer paper and they trapped the enraged, screaming demon onto the paper.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Illinois cheered in triumph, chuckling, “So this is the new demon in town that everyone’s freaking out about? Seems harmless to me.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“No, this is Kay’s spawnling,” Dark corrected. “I don’t think this one’s existed long enough. They don’t even have their own independent aura yet.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Wait, his what?” Illinois shouted in shock. “How did— When did Kay have a kid?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Less than a week ago,” Dark said, looking at the spawnling for a bit.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Did he tell you he was having a kid?” Illinois demanded, wounded. “He didn’t tell me.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“No,” Dark told him.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Why wouldn’t he tell us? Is he seeing someone? There is some partner out there we need to threaten.” Illinois became more resolute by the second.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Dark tried to keep his face emotionless, ordering his red soul to keep her brother from acting out. A slow realization dawning on Dark: Wil’s children were even less human than he suspected. “Demons don’t need a partner to have a spawnling. Kay could have had this child with no outside help if the conditions were right.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Oh,” Illinois managed. Then his head started to spin and turn with the implications of that. “What would having other people’s aura in the mix do? Would that work or make something new?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Providing the aura was in significant amounts, I would think it would make something new, why?” Dark asked.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Illinois went beet red, “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Uhhh,</span>
  </em>
  <span> I . . . uh.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Thankfully Illinois was saved when King came around the warehouses. He was in a warm jacket and gloves, slipping a bit on the ice. Yancy hot in his heels and the Host following at a bit slower pace.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Hey Kay,” Illinois smiled, holding up the paper. “Lose something?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>King looked relieved when he saw that very familiar image. “You guys </span>
  <em>
    <span>did</span>
  </em>
  <span> find them.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Illinois’s smile got more devious, “What happened to being responsible and adult, huh? Maybe you should have worn a condom when you let the forces of nature fuck you over?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Hey!” King dove in to take Lunky back. “Don’t teach them those words yet!”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“They got a name?” Illinois asked.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Lunky,” King said, uncertain. “That’s what the Host told me anyway. They respond to it, which is good because they don’t know how to communicate with me yet.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Illinois snickered, “Lunky, what kind of name is that?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Shut up, it’s their name,” King defended heatedly. “Your name is Illinois, we could stand here and make fun of each other’s names all day.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Illinois held up his hands in surrender, “Fine, fine.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Dark had internally balked at the name, but he kept quiet. Whatever the spawnling’s name was, wasn’t really any of his business. Or it shouldn’t have been.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Is the little fella okay?” Yancy asked concern, before smiling sweetly at the spawnling. “Youse gave us the run around all o’er town, didn’t youse?”</span>
  <span>[1]</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Lunky let out a chittering hiss that Yancy didn’t know how to understand.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Uhh, Squirrel Whisperer, youse got a word ‘a that?”</span>
  <span>[2]</span>
  <span> Yancy asked.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Yancy should allow the Host to help,” the Host offered, walking forward.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Sure, why’s</span>
  <span>[3]</span>
  <span> the hell not?” Yancy shrugged.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The Host took the paper and with a couple words shook the paper and what appeared to be a human child shot out. King lunged to catch the child, they were heavier than he expected. They looked like an almost exact copy of King when he was about three-years-old. And they were screaming and hissing in rage.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“And voila,” the Host announced, making sure a little bit of his aura extended out so that Lunky could start nibbling at it, calming the spawnling down. “The Host has solved their problem now that Lunky is three dimensional.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“This solves nothing,” King reminded him. “I have a kid. I haven’t got anything for them. Don’t people usually have like nine months to prepare for one of these?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Hey youse</span>
  <span>[4]</span>
  <span> got me,” Yancy smiled.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>King managed a smile, and a nervous chuckle, “This kid is doomed, you know that though, right?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Hey, I’d be a great uncle,” Yancy defended heatedly.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I know, that’s not what I meant,” King smiled.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>While the three adults were talking the spawnling was looking at Dark, and the Entity was staring back at him. The two demons weren’t breaking eye contact; the contact wasn’t hostile, it just wasn’t breaking.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Dark tried to memorize the spawnling’s image, hoping that the next time he saw Kay’s child he would still recognize the aura. His blue soul’s screams were echoing off the inside of his skull, trying to claw his way to Kay’s child. But Dark had made sure that his echo stayed very close by.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>King quickly noticed that Dark was staring at Lunky. He felt very defensive. When his and Dark’s eyes met that snapped something inside the animal magnet.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“We need to talk,” King told Dark, the Entity’s eyes slowly rising to meet his son’s eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Very well,” the Entity sounded disinterested. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Is there a way we can have this </span>
  <em>
    <span>“discussion”</span>
  </em>
  <span> without screaming in front of the kid?” King asked the Host sharply.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Yes the Host, Yancy, and Illinois can take King’s child for a bit,” the Host allowed. “The Entity and the King of the Squirrels should take their discussion inside.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The Host’s eyes bled a bit and suddenly King and Dark were in Dark’s office, standing on either side of the Entity’s desk.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>King finally hit the end of a long fuse that had been burning for a very long time.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“You were elated when you saw them, weren’t you?” King tried to keep his tone civil. “I’m a demon just like the rest of you.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Don’t be absurd, I didn’t feel anything,” Dark denied.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>That just got King angrier. “I was always too human for you, your little white sheep you couldn’t get to do what you wanted.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Why would what you were matter to me?” Dark dismissed. “I didn’t bring you into the Manor to make a demon out of you. I did it because Bim needed siblings. I didn’t have any expectations for any of you except to stay alive.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The last moment Dark had seen Arthur lingering haunting in his mind. A child he had failed to care for.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I won’t involve myself,” Dark told King, eager to have the discussion over with. It would take forever to calm his blue soul down. Then he added when he saw the slight confusion on King’s face, “with . . . with Lunky. Besides it’s obvious that you don’t want me in either of your lives.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Why wouldn’t I let you near Lunky?” King demanded, angry but not furious enough to not catch what Dark was actually saying. “You’re his grandfather.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>That word punched right through all of Dark’s mental and emotional walls. He had to leave! He should have made himself scarce when Kaylor arrived. But he was too greedy and eager to see the boy again.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Wil is his grandfather,” Dark bit back, stepping to the side of his desk and throwing open a portal. “Should you need anything, you know where I am.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Where do you think you’re going?” King demanded, his anger stoked again. “You always run off when I try to have a real conversation.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What else is there to talk about?” Dark demanded, his own frustration getting the better of him. </span>
  <em>
    <span>He needed to leave.</span>
  </em>
  <span> “You hate me, you don’t want me anywhere near you or your child. There is little to negotiate on the matter. I’ll tell Wil about them, unless you wish to do that yourself, and stay out of the way.”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>It’s not fair! It’s not fair! He’s mine! It’s not fair!</span>
  </em>
  <span> His blue soul was frantic and furious.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>We need to leave!</span>
  </em>
  <span> His red soul was no less desperate to be heard but pulling him in the opposite direction.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>I know! What do you think I’m trying to do? </span>
  </em>
  <span>And Dark was stuck somewhere in the middle of the two of them.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I don’t hate you,” King snapped in frustration. “You always fucking make this about </span>
  <em>
    <span>you.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Do I think you’re an egotistical narcissist who would sooner kill himself than be a decent person? Hell yes. But I don’t hate you. I don’t regret being adopted by you, and I know the others don’t regret it either.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Don’t patronize me, Kaylor,” Dark scoffed, his tone was calm but the fact that his aura was pitching up and down betrayed the fact that he was furious. “I know the Host still needs me to cooperate with his plans. I’m not going to go back on that. You were always the smart one between all your siblings, you always knew what I was and you left the first chance you got.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Then Dark felt it, his blue soul trying to shatter off a bit so he could reach out for Kay. Not to hurt him, never to hurt the boy. It had been years since Dark had set his hand on King and his blue soul wanted to hold the boy again and Dark snapped, grabbing his blue aura and slamming him back against the wall behind him.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>While King couldn’t see anything he saw Dark’s shadowy aura lash out at something a couple feet in front of him and objects on the far wall rattle a bit when something hit the wall. He instinctively jumped.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>I said no!</span>
  </em>
  <span> Dark reminded his blue soul.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Dark was quick to subsume Damien’s blue soul back in. Something his soul did kicking and screaming, Dark couldn’t silence all the splintering and echoes, but when it was over Dark turned to King, “Ignore him, he’s been out of sorts all day.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What was that?” King asked, his anger cooled significantly.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Nothing you need to worry about, I have it under control,” Dark told him.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“No, no,” King insisted. “We’re talking about this, were you about to attack me?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Don’t be absurd, if I haven’t attacked you even as a threat in almost twenty years I’m not going to start now. Sometimes my aura gets a bit presumptuous and I have to put it back in its place.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“So what was it going to do?” King demanded.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>That clearly got Dark defensive. “Why do you care? It wasn’t going to hurt or attack you?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I care because it concerns me,” King told him. “Why is it so bad that you can’t tell me?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Dark considered just leaving. This wasn’t Kay’s problem, it was his. And he couldn’t just . . . he wasn’t allowed to . . .</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>With a deep exhale, Dark gave himself another second or two. Then his left hand had more of his light blue aura than his red and he reached out for King’s closest hand. He had his hand in a very loose half-hold where only the pads of his fingers were touching him, giving King more than enough opportunity to take his hand away.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>King didn’t take his hand away, watching Dark in confusion a bit before he felt overcome by an emotion. It beckoned a memory in King’s mind, when Dark would hold the young man back when he was still a child. Whenever Kay was spooked or had woken up from a nap . . . but the feeling was reversed. The feeling of warm body heat against his skin and someone who needed </span>
  <em>
    <span>him</span>
  </em>
  <span> in that moment.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Kay felt his cheeks grow wet and Dark pulled his hand away, no longer looking King in the eye.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“There,” Dark said. “Like I said, I have it under control. I know you don’t like it when you’re touched without permission.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“You asshole, you were going to hug me,” King told Dark and flew forward to wrap his arms around his chest.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Dark stiffened up completely. His red soul became less frantic and Dark was left alone to fight against his blue soul from returning the touch. But there was no one else to distract either of them and Kay was so warm.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Slowly, as if cautious — </span>
  <span>afraid</span>
  <span> — that Kay would push him away, Dark began to move his arms down until they were gently wrapped around King.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The young man’s embrace became a little tighter, a sad chuckle coming from his mouth, “See, you just should have asked.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>His chuckle turned into a sad laugh, “Our whole family is fucked up if neither of us knew you wanted a hug.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I didn’t—” Dark started to deny but was cut off. His blue soul was finally silenced, suddenly calm again. Even his red soul felt like she was in a better mood.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Sooner than Dark or his blue soul wanted, Kay slowly began to pull away, and Dark could feel Damien was getting unhappy again but there was little they could do. Kay was done indulging their momentary lapse of control and Dark swore to himself that it would not happen again.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I’m not going to keep Lunky from seeing you, if I’ve got anything to say on the matter they won’t be joining the network, but I don’t want them not to know who you are.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“If that’s what you want, they are your child,” Dark tried to act as chill and nonchalant as he always did, desperately trying to regain his composure.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I meant what I said earlier,” King told him. “Both about not hating you and you being an egotistical narcissist. Both those things are true.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Anyways,” Dark ignored the barb. “We should find the Host.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Already done,” Yancy was standing at the door with the Host and Illinois. Lunky was in the ex-prisoner’s arms. None of which had been there a couple seconds ago.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Lunky was hissing at them but froze when he saw Dark. They began making some odd sounds as they reached out for Dark, clearly frustrated they couldn’t normally stretch.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>King walked over and took Lunky, “Hey buddy, you okay.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“They’s been cryin’ the whole time fer youse,”</span>
  <span>[5]</span>
  <span> Yancy told him. “Set ‘a</span>
  <span>[6]</span>
  <span> pipes on this kid.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Lunky, the second they were placed in King’s arms calmed down for a second or two, before reaching for Dark.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Oh is that how it is?” King chuckled, and walked back over to Dark. “You want Gramps, huh.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I’m going to get my aura all over him,” Dark tried to warn.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I don’t see a problem with that,” King shrugged. “Unless you don’t want to hold him?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“No, I can hold him,” Dark allowed, hesitantly taking the spawnling into his arms.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The instant Dark had them in his arms his aura instinctively latched on and the spawnling started just devouring his aura again, their eyes little more than round black circles.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Dark just let his aura wash over the kid, placing clear warning markers that despite not being his direct spawnling, Lunky was his and other demons and mages better not touch them.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“할아버지”</span>
  <span>[7]</span>
  <span> King told Lunky, having them look up at Dark. “That’s gonna be one of the first ones we learn, right?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Dark rolled his eyes, but just soaked in the fact that he got to hold the spawnling. They stayed in the office for a bit until Lunky let themself be passed back to King and Dark opened up a portal right in front the heroes’ base.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>It took a long, lengthy discussion to explain how King round up with what looked like a three-year-old but the heroes accepted Lunky into their group. Mini peeked around Bing, cautious as the two children looked at each other.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Before Dark could vanish off without Lunky realizing he was leaving, Silver walked over to him.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Demon grandkid, huh?” Silver asked with a smile.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“You and your heroes allow the hunters to even come within sight of them, I will murder all of you,” Dark warned.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Got it, got it,” Silver promised. “We’ll make sure they stay fed and everything.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Will you now?” Dark chuckled dryly. “You don’t even know what they eat.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“It’s not another cannibal is it?” Silver groaned seriously.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Don’t let them taste human flesh and we’ll see,” Dark suggested. “That’s how Bim started out. I took my eyes off him for five seconds and he started licking dead bodies.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“You’re joking right?” Silver deadpanned.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Dark flashed him a sadistic smile and walked through a portal.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Dark! Dark!” Silver called after him. “You’re joking right?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>With Dark gone all the heroes took their new edition inside and King proclaimed that the next time he saw either of the Jims he was going to stab them in return for stabbing him in the heart. Then he went to go and take Lunky to his park to show them what would become the spawnling’s second home.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Accessibility Translations<br/>1. You gave us the run around all over town, didn’t you?<br/>2. Uhh, Squirrel Whisperer, you got a word of that?<br/>3. why<br/>4. you<br/>5. They’ve been crying for you the whole time<br/>6. of<br/>7. “Grandfather”; Korean. Specifically the informal way to address your paternal grandfather. Phonically read as halabeoji.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Meet the Family</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Lunky gets to meet some more of the family.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  
  <span>Bim was on stage when, apparently, Dark had contacted Wilford, saying to come to the Manor when they both finished up at the studio.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Which Dark tended not to do unless it was something serious. Usually he ordered Illinois and Yan to jump at his command.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>But Wil took him home and they found Dark’s office empty. Which was strange because all his important meetings with them were in there.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>There was talking in the living room and Wil quickly poked his head out of the room and let out a delighted gasp.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Now who is this delightful little configuration of being?” Wilford threw open the door and Bim followed more hesitantly.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Bim stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Dark with a child in his arms. He looked at that kid and he could feel his hackles rising.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Hello,” Wil leaned in close to the child, bracing his hands on his knees. “Are you lucky number seven?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The spawnling screeched at Wil.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Wilford chuckled, absolutely delighted. “Is that so?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The madman looked up at Dark with a huge smile, “Their hiss sounds a bit like your echo, Darky.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“They’re Kay’s child,” Dark told Wil. “Their name is Lunky.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Really?” Wil’s enthusiasm didn’t dampen, he clapped his hands on his knees and stood up to look around. “Where is that boy?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Hey dad,” King smiled and waved at Wil from where he was sitting in an armchair.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Congratulations my boy,” Wil moved to his side to clap his hand on King’s shoulder. “Who’s the lucky partner I’ve never met?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“No one,” King told him. “I got stabbed by a soul splitter and almost died. It gave me a kid instead.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“That sounds fake as shit,” Bim told him.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Lunky made a little screech.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Wilford roared with laughter, “Learn quick, don’t you?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>King surged up, “Are you teaching my kid to curse, I have to deal with that later.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Kid’ll learn sooner rather than later when Anti shows up,” Bim defended with a huge smile on his face as King stomped over to him.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Before King could shake or punch his younger brother, Dark spoke up, “Let’s not Kay.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The animal magnet threw his arms up in the air, and glared at Bim, “Next time I get you alone you insufferable brat.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Bim gave him a sharp toothy smile, “Try it Dolittle.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Bim, if you keep antagonizing him, you might not win,” Dark warned.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“So to clear the air, this is my nephew?” Bim asked, walking over to the spawnling who maintained eye contact with Bim and both of them began a low warning growl as Bim approached.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Bim,” Dark warned, shielding Lunky with his aura. “They’re not competition, leave them alone.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“That’s not why I’m growling,” Bim growled defensively.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Then why are you growling?” Wil chuckled, leaning his elbows on the back of the couch and resting his chin on the palm of his hands.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Bim glared at Wil before huffing in frustration at Lunky.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“To answer your earlier question, no Lunky is not your brother. You were, to quote Beauregard, a </span>
  <em>
    <span>“creation of pure science”</span>
  </em>
  <span> and since I killed the other scientists it’s not happening again anytime soon. Besides there are already six of you, and you are all grown adults. Having another child would serve no purpose.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I could get a sister,” Yan called as she ran from upstairs with a binder of colored squares and started  holding the colors up next to Lunky’s face. “What’s a girl gotta do to get some quality girl time around here?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I don’t control that,” Dark reminded her, neither he nor King moving Lunky away from her.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Come now Darky, we’d get to have another angel running around the house,” Wil pouted.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“That’s what grandchildren are for,” Dark reminded.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Yes but we have to give them back,” Wilford frowned sadly. Then he seemed to think about that. “We could </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> give them back.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Dad, I am right here,” King reminded. “We don’t live here.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“A shame,” Wil commented, then he held his hands out. “May I hold them, pretty please?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Just don’t kidnap them,” King allowed.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Dark passed Lunky over to Wil, Lunky made an unhappy screeching cry and tried to hold onto Dark’s coat.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Wil chuckled, “Don’t worry, I’ll give you back to him.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Lunky was suddenly very quiet, going completely limp, their eyes large dark orbs as they started devouring Wil’s aura.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What a little delight,” Wil smiled. “Can they talk to animals too?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“No, it’d be so much easier if they could,” King sighed.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Dark walked over and lessened the spells keeping Lunky 3-D and they popped back into their actual form. Wil almost dropped them but Dark caught the spawnling.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Lunky quickly stretched onto the wall and started investigating the room.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Huh,” Bim commented, “weird gift, do they sleep on a drawing of a bed or an actual bed.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>King let out a bubbling, uncomfortable laugh, “They don’t.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What? Sleep?” Bim asked.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Yes,” King answered. “I’ve barely been sleeping.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Dark pulled a scroll from the Void and passed it over to King, “This is what I used to use on all of you.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Looking Dark dead in the eye, King said, “You are the best, if this even works half as well as it did on me.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Dark smirked at him.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The conversation kept going and Bim went off to hunt again and Wil raced off to the attic with Yan to find something. Leaving Dark, the Host, and King alone with Lunky in the living room. The spawnling seemed to be resting but King knew it wouldn’t last and he would actually go to sleep.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Lunky was resting against Dark’s shoulder, still a flat image, and Dark was just sitting in one of the armchairs, watching them rest.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“You know,” King commented. “When they’re like this, I kinda forget they can be an absolute nightmare.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Hopefully that spell works for you,” Dark replied.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“How long did it take Bim to start talking?” King asked. “We came in when he was already talking and walking.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“We got Bim when he was eight months old, he was walking before he started talking. Wil accidentally said the word </span>
  <em>
    <span>“fuck”</span>
  </em>
  <span> and that was his first word. I was furious. He started talking when he was almost two. Lunky is a little bit more developed than Bim was. However, Bim was completely artificial.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>King made a face that showed that he wasn’t too reassured by those words. “Okay so should I be doing something?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“The Host should suggest that there is a strong possibility that Lunky could never be able to fully speak,” the Host warned.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The room went quiet.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Is that caused by something in their aura?” Dark asked.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“It is something within Lunky’s nature,” the Host reported. “There is a possibility that the Host is wrong, but the Host doubts that.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Okay,” King said.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Dark frowned, “A large portion of the heroes can sign, you and Illinois can sign, so can I, Wilford seemed to be able to read his mind. Communication shouldn’t be an issue. It would be a shame if we wasted their time and sanity trying to push them to communicate in a way that makes them uncomfortable.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Yeah,” King was very quick to agree, taking in a huge breath and nodding, looking more resolute by the second. “I can talk to birds and dogs. Humans are just another animal, right?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Some more so than others,” Dark offered as a barbed comment.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>King looked nervous as he looked at Lunky, “I just don’t want to hurt them. I want them to be happy and safe.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“You’ll do fine,” Dark reassured.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Because you raised six kids?” King tried to smile.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Well experience certainly helps,” Dark smiled. “But I meant to say that you won’t be trying to raise this one in secret like I did with all of you.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“How did you manage that, anyways?” King asked. “We went to Disneyland one year. Dad broke an entire rollercoaster and killed fifteen people.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I used the Anomaly to perfectly replicate areas we wished to take you,” Dark answered. “I even replicated police involvement to keep your father entertained.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“You absolute ass,” King cursed. “You took us to bootleg Disneyland?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The Host chuckled at that.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I will have you know it took a full year to investigate the entire park, including how character actors and crowds reacted,” Dark defended. “Did you expect me to bring Wil, Bim, and Arthur to an actual theme park and have nothing happen?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Fair,” King grumbled, and then groaned as he checked his phone. “Alright let’s get back to the base.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Before you leave,” Dark held up his hand and a necklace with an eye design on it. It swirled with a myriad of colors. “Something I had to learn the hard way. Spawnlings require aura to survive and grow. Like physical activity for a human. Their own will not feed them. So you have a choice: human or demonic aura.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“To eat?” A pit formed in King’s heart.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Yes, a new spawnling can strip all the aura from a human and render them a hollow, dry husk, matured demons have more control over it,” Dark warned. “What would you like to feed your child?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Uh, how do I get demon aura?” King asked apprehensively.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Well now that depends, either an older, more experienced demon can donate their aura to a younger one, helping that spawnling grow stronger,” Dark explained. “Or you could kill a lesser, weaker demon and take all their aura to make oneself more powerful.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>That alarmed King instantly. “Demons can actually die?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Not from a single hit or even a volley of hits, killing a demon is a drawn out process but if the lesser is significantly weaker and the other demon is significantly stronger the fight is almost not fair. I have to kill some upstart every couple of months who tries to wander into Egoton thinking they can just take over. Typically I can just run them out and if they’re smart they won’t come back, other demons not so much. Why not put all that energy to good use?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“O-Okay,” King allowed.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I figured you would side with the humans so I took the time to mix my own aura with another demon’s that I recently subdued,” Dark told him. “At Lunky’s current appetite this should last him a couple months.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>King moved to put on the necklace but Dark stopped him. “Try to avoid putting it on, we wouldn’t want Lunky to associate you with food, now would we? You have far less aura than I do.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Right,” King pocketed the necklace and King took Lunky back who was upset to leave Dark’s arms and aura, but was quieted when they were given the necklace to chew on. Wil and Dark said their goodbyes. The Host took Lunky and King back to the base.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>A calm settling back over the city.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Accessibility Translations<br/>1. How is that thing our family?<br/>2. You’ve<br/>3. You’re the most responsible out of all of us.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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